Painted Head (Magill’s Survey of American Literature, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: John Crowe Ransom
- First Published: 1934
- Type of Work: Poem
- Genres: Poetry
- Subjects: Emotions, Death or dying, Reason or reasoning, Mind and body
“Painted Head” involves an issue central to Ransom: the separation between reason and sensibility. The head's separation from the body is described as “dark severance”—a sinister act of violence that makes this head appear ghostlike. The speaker believes this head illustrates the instinct of heads (reason) to cut themselves off from the “body bush” (sensibility), which they consider inferior.
The happiest heads are those remaining “married” to their bodies. In this typical Ransom conceit, these heads represent individuals able to maintain a balance of reason...
[The entire page is 530 words long]
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